Hulk Hogan became a household name in the 1980s as a larger-than-life wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation, but now the part-time Florida man could attempt to make headlines in politics with a run for the U.S. Senate.
Republican strategist and one of President Donald Trump’s former top advisers Roger Stone is apparently attempting to goad Hogan, a Clearwater resident, into running for the Republican candidacy for U.S. Senate against incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
Stone is pushing Hogan to run as a Republican against Gov. Rick Scott, who is widely speculated to enter the race later this year.
“At a minimum, I hope to convince Hogan to body slam (Gov. Rick) Scott in every debate,” Stone said. “If the governor is under the impression that his personal responsibility for $1 billion in Medicaid fraud is no longer an issue, he’s wrong.”
Hogan, whose real name is Terry Boella, has never officially run for public office. He did declare his candidacy for president in 1998, but the candidacy didn’t come to fruition and instead ended up being a plot for a wrestling match.
Hogan has toed the line between supporting both Democrats and Republicans in the past. In 2008, he supported Barack Obama for president but supported Mitt Romney for president in 2012.
Hogan had been quiet on whether or not he would run for the job, but later told TMZ he didn’t plan on running -- at least for now.
“I don’t want to run, OK. I have a great life here on the beach,” he said. “Right now, this moment, it’s a flat-out no.”
Hogan commented on the current state of politics, noting an apparent discord between Democrats and Republicans which seemed all too familiar to the retired wrestler.
"At the end of the day, I'm just so confused because it's like watching the politicians - the Democrats and the Republicans - it's like nobody wants to work together," Hogan said. "It's like a wrestling match, with two wrestlers that are supposed to work together and paint this beautiful wrestling picture, the Republicans and Democrats act like they hate each other and they don't want to do anything except create chaos. So I really don't want to be any part of that."
Hogan did add one caveat, though -- if he did run, he was confident he would emerge victorious against Florida’s two-term millionaire governor.
“If I run, I would win,” Hogan insisted.
Should Hogan jump into the race, he wouldn’t be the first Florida celebrity to join the world of politics. President Donald Trump was both a businessman and a reality television game show host for The Apprentice, a TV show where contestants would vie for a prize of one-year $250,000 starting contract to run one of Trump’s companies.
Trump hosted the first fourteen seasons before he ran for president in 2016.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
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